The Literacy Teacher's Life

This week's episode focuses on reading comprehension and how to include it into reading instruction. The following is addressed:

- Why we read

- How to assess reading comprehension

- How to include a structured approach to comprehension into reading instruction

The episode ends with ideas for how parents can address comprehension when reading with kids at home.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What other ways can you read with students other than through interactive read-alouds?

This week's episode is all about shared reading and how to include this into your teaching to support students' reading fluency and comprehension.

Elizabeth begins by explaining shared reading and what it looks like in practice. She talks about the types of texts that are commonly used in shared reading and how they are different from the texts used in interactive read-alouds. Shared reading supports a variety of skills - which are addressed.

Finally, Elizabeth ends with how shared reading can be beneficial to parents when they are reading at home with their kids.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is a literacy coach? How does a literacy coach support teachers, students, and schools? In today's episode, Elizabeth is speaking with Melissa Morrison, the founder of Teaching to Transform. Melissa is a coach, specifically a writing coach. She works with teachers to support their writing instruction.

In this episode, Elizabeth and Melissa discuss the role of a coach and how coaching can benefit teachers and students. They also discuss writing instruction and her advice for supporting writing at school and at home.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's October! Today's episode is not directly related to literacy. Elizabeth sits down to speak with Dara Kurtz, an author, speaker, and breast cancer survivor. Dara has experienced setbacks in her life, but has come out stronger and is living a more intentional life. She teaches a class that focuses on helping individuals thrive after and/or during a challenging time in life. We talk about strategies to help if you are feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or just need a reset. And...good news, most of these are free!

For more information about Dara:

DARA KURTZ, after being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of forty-two, left her twenty-year career as a financial advisor to focus on writing and speaking. Today her personal blog, Crazy Perfect Life, reaches over 200,000 followers. Dara is the author of I am My Mother’s Daughter: Wisdom on Life, Loss, and Love, Crush Cancer, and Living with Gratitude, her daily gratitude journal.

Dara’s been a guest on over 70 podcasts/TV/Radio shows. Her goal is to use her life experiences to help people strengthen their relationships and create more happiness and joy in their everyday lives.

Follow Dara:

Sign up for Dara’s Newsletter https://crazyperfectlife.com/join/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/crazyperflife/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/crazyperfectlife

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Literacy education has many terms that sound similar and have similar meanings. Phonological and phonemic awareness are two of those terms!

This week, Elizabeth explains these two terms and shares examples of how they can be taught. Foundational skills are a hot topic at the moment and curriculum is being implemented to address phonological and phonemic awareness - so having an understanding of what they mean and what instruction needs to be taught is helpful for supporting elementary students.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the new school year! This episode starts with an update. Then, Elizabeth shares what she is focusing on for this back to school time. This fall, Elizabeth is teaching three reading classes - so she discusses how teachers can think through their reading instruction and emphasizes interactive read-alouds and what to pay attention to when planning and implementing read-alouds at the beginning of the year. The episode ends with three books that Elizabeth read with her kids over the summer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Serravallo is back on today's episode! Elizabeth speaks with Jennifer about her latest book, Teaching Reading Across the Day: Methods and Structures for Engaging, Explicit Instruction. They begin by discussing the structure of the book and all of the wonderful resources that are included with the book - this includes many videos of the different types of instruction.

They chat about explicit instruction, why it's necessary to include in instruction, and what this looks like in the elementary classroom. Then, Jennifer explains the different lesson structures that she included in the book -- and takes us through some of the lessons that are included in the book.

Check out Jennifer Serravallo's website: https://www.jenniferserravallo.com/

You can find Jennifer's latest book here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a fun episode! Emily Drabinski, the current president of the American Library Association (ALA) is back on the podcast!

The ALA Annual Conference will be held in San Diego from June 27-July 2, 2004 and Emily is here to share what is in store for attendees. She starts by giving us an update on her recent library visits and discusses the amazing work that libraries are doing to support their communities.

Then, she shares information about the conference – some of the topics that will be discussed, some of the authors who will be speaking, and of course – how to register! If you are interested in attending, here is the link!

https://www.ala.org/conferencesevents

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The end of the school year is quickly approaching! In today's episode, Elizabeth discusses some tips for teachers and parents to gear up for the end of the school year.

There are many events at this time of the year, so this episode will help you think through what you want to teach and review before the summer comes!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Independent reading is a common practice in elementary classrooms. It's important for kids to have time to read because research has found that children who read more are often likely to become better readers. However, it is not as straightforward as time reading equals becoming a better reader.

In order to make independent reading time more effective, Elizabeth shares three tips from research studies: consider the books that students are reading, do more than read during independent reading time, and help students set their own reading goals to work towards.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices